1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting tool having a metallic glass thin film (MGTF) coated thereon, a metallic glass cutting tool, and methods of fabricating the same and, more particularly, to a cutting tool having an MGTF and a metallic glass cutting tool which can be used independently as, for example, knives, saws, blades, or cutter wheels; and methods of fabricating the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Cutting tools such as knives or saws are used as equipment such as cooking knives, surgical knives, military knives, art tooling knives, industrial knives, carpentry saws, medical saws, and metal-cutting saws. Those cutting tools are usually made of stainless steel, ceramic, high-carbon steel, tungsten steel, or etc. Martensitic stainless steel is the most used material to manufacture medical knives and other equipment due to the advantages of being, for example, easy to obtain, easy to process, and low cost. For cutting tools, key requirements are to have enough hardness, sharpness, chemical-resistance, corrosion resistance, and less adhesive property. Also, for commercial purposes, it is desired to be easily produced, and have a low-manufacturing cost.
As for estimating the sharpness of a knife, a Blade Sharpness Index (BSI) can be used with tests and calculations (C. T. McCarthy, M. Hussey, M. D. Gilchrist. “On the sharpness of straight edge blades in cutting soft solids: Part I—indentation experiments”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, vol. 74, p. 2205-2224, 2007). The sharpness represents efficiency of cutting. For example, the better the sharpness (a lower Blade Sharpness Index) the more efficient the cut, which can help realize a short recovery time for patients following surgery.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved material for providing cutting tools having high sharpness (low Blade Sharpness Index) with low manufacturing cost, which can be used for medical, daily life, and industrial purposes.